Caramelized Onion Pizza with Pesto and Goat Cheese

It’s really hot here, for the fifth or sixth straight day. Not as hot as some other places though, and we still have power, so there’s that. But it has been hard to see beyond my heat-induced brain fog to post, or cook for that matter. So that, and computer issues, have been my nemesis this week. But I had some great pizza.

Man, was this good. (The pepperoni half was for The Boy, he wanted no part of the onion pizza.)

Pesto

A big bunch of basil, coarsely chopped
A clove of garlic
A 2-oz jar of pine nuts
About 2 oz Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, roughly chopped
About 1/4 C extra virgin olive oil (or enough to make it smooth and paste-like)
salt and pepper to taste

Pulverize the basil, garlic, pine nuts, and cheese in the food processor, add oil and blitz to combine into a smooth paste, season with salt and pepper as you like it.

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and toss now and then to prevent them from burning. You will see brown crust gathering on the pan, that is a good thing.

After the onions have softened and released some juices, salt and pepper them lightly. Keep cooking and tossing, reducing the heat to medium if you see the brown drippings in the pan getting too dark. When the onions have browned and the pan is dry, add your splash of vermouth to deglaze your pan, using a spatula or wooden spoon to scrape all the brown oniony flavor from the bottom of the pan. Let the pan cook dry, stirring to mix everything together, and salt and pepper to taste.

Put it all together:

I used a Boboli crust because it was easy and the family likes it. So you may have to adjust cooking time and method depending on what crust you use. So, I brushed the crust with olive oil to help the pesto adhere to the crust. I spread pesto over the crust in a thin layer, then topped it with the onions. I crumbled goat cheese over all that, and into the oven it went until it was hot and bubbly, and the cheese had browned a bit, about 7 minutes.

This pizza was so lip-smacking good, the herby, salty pesto and sweet caramelized onions went perfectly with the creamy goat cheese and warm, crusty/chewy crust. I was so sad when it was gone.

Next time I’ll have to make a whole one, and The Boy will get an individual-size pizza instead.

This sounds delicious, except for the goat cheese part. We just had pizza tonight at our house tonight, too. Richard makes this yummy whole wheat thin crust and prebakes it so it’s kinda stiff. He makes one for each of us and we decorate it at will. Tonight I made mine with olive oil, sea salt, fresh basil leaves, heirloom tomatoes, red onions, fresh mozzarella, and kalamata olives. It. Was. Divine. I would have taken pictures but I couldn’t wait. You are a strong, strong woman.

Loved the pesto pizza. My youngest just rediscovered pesto and it will be fun to try this recipe with her. Everything tastes better with pesto. Also, thanks for describing how you cook your onions…every one has a different way to do it and I’m always interested in a new technique. I’ve never used vermouth when caramelizing onions.

Everything tastes better with pesto…that could be a rule. I had never used vermouth for caramelizing onions either, but I wanted to deglaze the pan, and knew vermouth’s herbal notes would be perfect with onions and pesto.